Jetsettersblog

Nevada’s history is well known as being the Wild West, from cowboys and Indians to train robberies and silver and gold mines. Originally belonging to Indian tribes, the area we now know as Nevada was claimed by Mexico before becoming part of the Utah Territory and eventually attaining statehood in 1864.

Many famous explorers ventured into the vast expanse of Nevada to find a fast route from the eastern states into the wild frontier of California. Gold (and later silver) was soon discovered in Northern Nevada. The discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859 was the first of Nevada’s many mining booms and attracted thousands of new people to the state, including a large Chinese population from San Francisco.

While many temporary towns and trading posts were established throughout the rough Nevada frontier, primarily in Northern Nevada by Mormon settlers and gold miners, the distinction of Nevada’s first town is often given to Mormon Station, which was founded in 1851 near present-day Carson City and was later renamed Genoa. A nearby settlement in what is now Dayton, just a few miles from Genoa, was founded earlier than Genoa but did not flourish, and the debate over which town was Nevada’s first settlement still lingers. However, Dayton holds the claim as the site of the first gold discovery in the state in 1849.

Just a few years later, more Mormon settlers moved into the future Utah Territory, and in 1855 a group of these settlers built a fort near what is now downtown Las Vegas. However, in 1857, relations between the federal government and the Mormon Church became tense and Brigham Young, president of the church, called his followers back to Salt Lake City. Nevada’s sparse population plummeted.

Two years later, gold (and later silver) was discovered on the south flank of Sun Mountain, near what is now Virginia City. The discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859 was the first of Nevada’s many mining booms and attracted thousands of new people to the state. In 1860 the Pony Express was established to carry mail between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif., and was a vital link in Nevada’s development.

The Territory of Nevada was created by an Act of Congress on March 2, 1861. The state continued to grow as the mines yielded more and more wealth and by 1863, more than 10,000 miners, prospectors and settlers lived on the Comstock. Later, on October 31, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Nevada’s admission to the Union as the 36th state. The Nevada State Constitution was sent to Lincoln in the longest telegraph message in history up to that time.

The railroad roared into Nevada’s history in 1868 when the Central Pacific Railroad crossed the state line, and soon other railroads were constructed throughout the state to carry supplies to the miners and towns, as well as money and gold. This brought another wave of Chinese immigration, and at one time 90 percent of the Central Pacific Railroad workers were Chinese. The completion of most of the West’s railroads is attributed to the Chinese craftsmen who worked tirelessly to link western towns by railroad.

The hard-working Chinese population of Nevada in the 1800s is also credited with developing mining and irrigation practices, and many towns have historic sites telling the story of the Chinese influence on Western culture.

While Nevada is known in part for its history of legalized gambling, it was actually illegal before 1869 and again after 1910. In 1931, Nevada again legalized casino gambling, this time as a means of raising tax revenues and stabilizing the state’s economy. With the legalization of gambling came the first casinos on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, which was soon to be known as “Glitter Gulch,” and in 1941, the first hotel-casino on the future Las Vegas Strip opened its doors as the El Rancho Vegas.

Today Las Vegas is known around the world for its nonstop entertainment, world-class dining and elite shopping. Nevada has undergone many changes and growth spurts over the years and in 2004 it hit a benchmark in tourism, attracting more than 50 million visitors and generating $40 billion in tourism revenue.

Also in 2004, the Nevada Commission on Tourism became the first and only United States entity to be licensed to advertise in China. The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) estimates that 90 percent of Chinese travelers to the United States go to Nevada, part of the reason that it awarded the license to Nevada. Within one year, four Chinese cities or provinces signed friendship agreements with Nevada to further promote tourism between Nevada and China.